State Board of Education requests probe of email leak

The Alabama State Board of Education Thursday formally requested an investigation into the leak of emails intended to embarrass an applicant for the state superintendent.

(Photo: Jefferson County Board of Education)

The board voted 7 to 1 to request an investigation by the Alabama Ethics Commission and the Alabama attorney general’s office into the dissemination of emails sent and received in 2009 by Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Craig Pouncey, then an official at the Alabama State Department of Education. The resolution also asks both agencies to determine if the leak broke any state or federal laws.

“If these entities that we have named at the bottom (of the resolution) determine they have the information they need, they will act,” said board member Yvette Richardson, who sponsored the resolution.

The emails surfaced as part of an anonymous complaint mailed to board members in July, accusing Pouncey – a leading candidate for the superintendent position – of improperly using Alabama State Department of Education staff to prepare a dissertation. Pouncey said he received voluntary help in preparing the dissertation but said he wrote every word of it. Employees alleged to have helped Pouncey also denied he did anything improper.

Pouncey narrowly lost the contest for superintendent in August to Michael Sentance, a former Massachusetts secretary of education who took the position last month. Supporters of Sentance insist that the leak had nothing to do with their vote.

The sole vote against the resolution came from board member Matthew Brown, who raised concerns about some of the legal ramifications of the proposal and attempted to offer a lengthy amendment.

“We’re directing other organizations to give an opinion, and I don’t think we have the power to do that,” he said.

Both Richardson and board member Stephanie Bell called Brown’s motion an attempt to change the intent of the resolution, which Bell called “totally inappropriate.” The board voted down Brown's substitute.

Richardson said passage of the resolution would allow the board to take the “next step” in addressing the leak. Board members plan to meet with attorneys to determine what comes next. Richardson said a proposal could be ready for board members to consider at their meeting next month.